Mangrove yellow warbler at Bonaire island (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

2 November 2025

In the world of birding a Life Bird, or “Lifer,” is a species seen for the first time in one’s life. For many years I kept a handwritten list but I didn’t know the count. Once I started using eBird the software automatically kept my Life List so every time I open the website eBird presents me with my current Life Bird count.

On 30 October I noticed that my Life List had jumped from 1,569 to 1,574 birds. I’d heard the whimbrel would split into two species during eBird’s taxonomy update last week, so I expected to gain one Life Bird without any effort. But FIVE Armchair Lifers?

With the help of eBird News I found 4 out of the 5 additions but I’ll have to spend lots of time with the 2025 eBird Taxonomy Update to find the fifth.

In the meantime, here’s what I gained in taxonomic order. All of them are “travel” birds (no splits in Pittsburgh) but you, too, may have gained a Life Bird within the U.S.

Formerly “Striated Heron” everywhere

This bird split three ways. I saw two of the three species in Panama and Southern Africa. The Central and South American bird retains the original common name.

Striated heron, Panama (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

• Striated Heron (Butorides striata)— Central and South America
• Lava Heron (Butorides sundevalli)—dark-plumaged, Galapagos endemic
• Little Heron (Butorides atricapilla)—widespread from Africa through the Middle East, South, East, and Southeastern Asia to Australasia.

Little heron, former striated heron, South Africa (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Formerly “Whimbrel”

I’ve seen Hudsonian whimbrels in the Western Hemisphere and the Eurasian whimbrel in Spain.

Hudsonian whimbrel in Newfoundland (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

• White-rumped Eurasian Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) Eurasia, Africa, Australia with vagrants to Eastern North America.
• Brown-rumped Hudsonian Whimbrel (Numenius hudsonicus)  North, Central and South America including the Carribean

No rumps, white or brown, showing in these photos.

Eurasian whimbrel in France (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Formerly “Warbling Vireo”

One in the east, one in the west. According to eBird: The breeding range splits roughly at the Rocky Mountains, breeding habitats differ somewhat, songs differ substantially. I saw the western one in Montana.

Eastern warbling vireo (photo by Lauri Shaffer)

• Eastern Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) a bird of lowland watercourses from the Great Plains eastward, usually in areas with cottonwoods, willows, and other riverside vegetation.
• Western Warbling Vireo (Vireo swainsoni) Rocky Mountains and westward. Occurs in mountain forests—especially riparian forest adjacent to pines.

Western warbling vireo on nest in Nevada (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Formerly “Yellow Warbler”

Yellow warblers are extremely common in spring in eastern North America. I saw the mangrove yellow warbler in Panama. It’s the one with the little rusty cap (photo at top).

Northern yellow warbler in Michigan (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

• Northern Yellow Warbler (Setophaga aestiva)—the migratory northern population that breeds in shrubland and riparian habitats across Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.
• Mangrove Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)—the resident southern population that lives year-round in mangroves along the coasts of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, and on the fringes of Caribbean islands.

Mangrove yellow warbler, Galapagos (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

How many Armchair Lifers did you gain last week?